Infiltration // T.S

four

Myrtle had noticed that Pearl was spending more and more time in her room in between her shifts at The Garrison. Assuming it was the stress from the new job or perhaps home sickness she made sure to always bring her food or refill her teacup when it was empty. Pearl continuously thanked her and continuously told her that she needn't bother herself; to which Myrtle always responded that it was her motherly instinct.

In reality Pearl was spending that time writing correspondence to Grenfeld and drawing up plans. Nonetheless, she fell on never ending dead ends in her plans - knowing that what she really needed was the information from Tommy. Also knowing the only way she could get close enough to Tommy to obtain that information was to give up Grace.

She'd been close to telling Tommy a few times over the past twenty-four hours, walking over to Watery Lane and then turning around and going home. Every time she got close she thought about the possibilities of what could happen to Grace and then every time she returned home she remembered that Grace was working with Inspector Campbell. This internal conflict had completely consumed her thoughts, so much so that she didn't even notice that Grace hadn't turned up at work until about midday.

Once she had realised she went straight to Harry.

"She said she 'ad a family emergency" he responded, nonchalantly.

Well that obviously wasn't the case. Pearl knew if Grace had taken the whole day off then it was something important.

"Oi Pearl, can I 'av a chat?" Harry motioned towards the back room, holding the door open for her to walk through. Pearl nodded as she stepped in.

"I just wanted to give ya a quick word of warning. We 'ad some fenians in 'ere yesterday makin' a scene. Look, we don't want no trouble, so on Mr Shelby's orders if any come in 'ere then you're to serve 'em silently. Do not say a word. Same goes for Grace''

Pearl's brow furrowed as she listened, "Fenians? Don't they normally hang about the Black Swan?"

"Well ye but they had some business in 'ere yesterday with Mr Shelby. It's better we don't ask questions, so if any come in just keep ya head down"

"Yes that's no problem, Harry. Head down, get on with it" Pearl confirmed and Harry gave her a small smile before opening up the door again to let her out.

She could only think of one reason why Tommy would have business with members of the IRA. They're going after fucking guns. The crown, the blinders, the IRA - does anyone else want to get in her way?

Pearl naturally assumed that Grace had caught wind of this and was investigating, not only on orders but for herself. She had a justified personal reason why she'd want to go after members of the IRA and Pearl decided to do a little investigating herself.

On her lunch break she decided to head out and look for Grace. She had an hour for lunch and so thought the best use of her minimal time would be to head over to The Black Swan.

As Pearl walked she realised she was heading out the Peaky Blinders main territory and going closer towards Digbeth. Of course there were still coppers here on their payroll and they kept an eye on these streets but it seemed as though the further she walked the more people she saw who had been outcast by the blinders.

Fifteen minutes later Pearl approached the outside of the pub and spotted a familiar blonde head. Just where Pearl thought she'd be.

Grace was standing behind a wooden cart filled with metal as she peered around the corner, watching someone. She started to move forward and therefore so did Pearl. However, to her misfortune, as she walked past the pub a rowdy group of men all spilled out onto the street and Pearl lost sight of Grace. She elbowed through the men who were all too drunk to take any notice and felt repulsed at the overwhelming smell of beer at only just past two o'clock. Once the men cleared she couldn't see Grace anywhere. Nonetheless, the road only went one way and Pearl started to run forward.